GHV girls drop a close one to North Iowa

(Above) GHV’s Maddie Williams brings the ball down the floor in Tuesday night’s match-up against North Iowa.  Williams led the team in scoring with 11-points.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

It was another tough week for the Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girl’s basketball team.  The Cardinals dropped two more games, moving their record to 2-8, 3-10.

North Iowa 45, GHV 43

The GHV girls battled hard, but came up a little short on Tuesday night.  The Cardinals fell to North Iowa (3-6, 3-8), 45-43.

“We were embarrassed on the boards, giving up 21 offensive rebounds and only getting one offensive rebound of our,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “We also had 30 turnovers to their 10.  That resulted in North Iowa getting 31 more shot attempts than us.”

It was a slow start to the game, with neither team scoring for the first three minutes of play.  It was close from there, with North Iowa managing a small, 10-8 lead in the first quarter.  The Bison began to pull ahead in the second quarter and took a 23-16 lead into the half.

Payton Bamrick connected on a three point shot in the third quarter, which turned the tide for the Cardinals. Jillian Heitland made two field goals and Maddie Williams collected two to take the lead, 27-26.  By the end of the third quarter, the score was tied, 33-33.

The Bison went on a seven-point unanswered run in the fourth quarter to go up 44-35.  Hannah Lau answered that with six consecutive points, 44-41.  With :26 second remaining, Williams grabbed a defensive rebound and Heitland made a field goal, but it wasn’t enough, as the Cards fell, 45-43.

“I was happy with the way we never quit even being down by seven with less than a minute to go and having a chance to send it to overtime at the buzzer,” said Erpelding.

Williams and Lau led the team with 11 and 10 points apiece.  Heitland contributed nine-points, while Miranda Jackson had eight.

Lau had a good night under the boards with 14 rebounds, to go with her six blocked shots.

Other rebound leaders included Taryn Carolus with six and Bamrick had three.

Williams and Mara Anderson led the team in assists with three apiece.  Anderson also had two steals.

Forest City 59, GHV 40

A very poor start set the tone for the GHV girls on Friday, Jan. 15, when the Cards traveled to Forest City (9-1, 12-1).

The Indians jumped to an early 13-0, before Miranda Jackson connected on two free-throws with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter.  The lopsided scoring continued in the second quarter and Forest City went to the locker room with a comfortable 34-12 lead.

“We were very sloppy, committing 10 turnovers in the first quarter,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “After the first quarter we pretty much played with them, but couldn’t dig ourselves out of the hole we dug for ourselves.”

The second half was much more balanced, with both teams scoring 13-points in the third quarter.  The Cardinals outscored the Indians in the fourth quarter, 15-12, but the first half was too much to overcome as GHV fell, 59-40.

Hannah Lau had a double-double for the night, with 11-points and 13 rebounds.  Jade Hanson and Maddie Williams each had six points and Payton Bamrick had four.

Hanson also had a good night under the boards with seven rebounds.  Taryn Carolus pulled in four.

Lau had three assists,  one steal and one blocked shot.

Williams and Mikaya Shropshire had two blocks apiece.

“I thought our bench played very well, as they were the group that came in and stopped the bleeding after we fell behind,” said Erpelding.  “One positive on the night is that we shot free throws very well going 15/20.”

The Cardinals travel to Belmond-Klemme Friday night, Jan. 22.  Game time is 6:15 p.m.